The listing of Omni Industries on the Junior Market on Tuesday, was the highlight of the Jamaica Stock Exchange during the past week, following a successful offer of share to the public. The market closed with gains in the Main and Junior Market indices, leading to just four stocks rising in the ICTOP10 Main Market and only two in the Junior Market, with gains ranging from three to 12 percent and five with losses in the Junior Market TOP10 and six in the Main Market.
Omni Industries that was never in the TOP10 closed at $1.12, after the price hit a record high of $1.42 on Wednesday, sits in the last quartile of the overall Junior Market, with a fairly healthy PE of 14.
Lasco Financial, last week’s new listing to the Junior Market ICTOP10 climbed 12 percent to $1.70 and dropped out of the listing. Caribbean Cream rallied 7 percent to $4. Caribbean Assurance Brokers fell 8% to close at $3.55, followed by Access Financial, Lumber Depot and tTech falling by 5 percent each to close at $19, $2.65 and $2.35 respectively.
In the Main Market, Berger Paints, General Accident and Palace Amusement rose 8 percent to close at $8.95, $7 and $1.15 respectively. Margaritaville fell 8 percent to close at $14.50, Key Insurance fell 6 percent to $2.24 and JMMB Group dipped 5 percent to $24.25.
The Junior Market listed AMG Packaging is the the only new addition to the ICTOP10 for the week, coming in at $3.30.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5.1, well below the market average of 14 and the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 6.7, just over half of the market, with an average of 12.4.
The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 295 percent by May 2025, based on 2024 forecasted earnings and providing better values than the Junior Market with the potential to achieve 212 percent over the same period.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 17 of the most highly valued stocks representing 33 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 103, with an average of 30 and 19 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 23 for the top half and 16 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
In the Junior Market IC TOP10 are 12 stocks, or 26 percent of the market, with PEs ranging from 15 to 45, averaging 20, well above the market’s average. The average PE for the top half of the market is 17, possibly the lowest fair value measure for stocks currently.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. 
ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2025 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading closed with 5,633,135 shares for $10,782,635 down from 7,971,053 units at $18,706,118 on Thursday.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Jetcon Corporation advanced 10 cents in closing at 80 cents with a transfer of 301 stock units, Lasco Financial climbed 15 cents to finish at $1.70 as investors exchanged 575,941 stocks, MFS Capital Partners shed 18 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $1.02 after it hit an intraday low of 95 cents with 428,315 stocks being traded. Omni Industries gained 9 cents to $1.12 with an exchange of 2,447,168 shares, Spur Tree Spices popped 9 cents in closing at $2.35, with 323,059 stocks crossing the market and Tropical Battery rallied 11 cents and ended at $2.23 with traders dealing in 37,485 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
At the close of trading on Friday, the JSE Combined Market Index rallied 2,179.26 points to 334,640.14, the All Jamaican Composite Index slipped 158.45 points to close at 356,570.54, the JSE Main Index rose 2,061.91 points to end trading at 322,058.00. The Junior Market Index climbed 29.00 points to close at 3,717.69, after hitting 3760 points in the morning session and the JSE USD Market Index rose 2.09 points to end the day at 221.95.
In the Junior Market, Omni Industries was the leading traded stock with 2.45 million units, to be followed by Lasco Financial with 575,941 stock units and Dolla Financial with 569,701 units.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide for investors to quickly assess the value of stocks based on this measure. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
The market closed with trading of 7,971,053 shares for $18,706,118 down from 25,008,612 units at $42,711,488 on Wednesday.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows nine stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
JFP Ltd rallied 8 cents and ended at $1.18 after a transfer of 37,386 units, KLE Group increased 15 cents to end at $2.26 after trading 55 stocks, Knutsford Express climbed 66 cents to close at $11.31 with investors transferring 48 stock units. Limners and Bards rose 12 cents to $1.68, with 101 shares crossing the market, Omni Industries slipped 18 cents to end at $1.03 with traders dealing in 4,402,167 stocks after demand to buy the stock waned with selling pressure dominating, Paramount Trading gained 15 cents in closing at $1.30 with 8,228 units clearing the market. Regency Petroleum rose 10 cents to finish at $2.20 with a transfer of 4,475 stock units and Stationery and Office Supplies rallied 8 cents and ended at $1.65 as investors exchanged 20,100 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
The stock is scheduled to resume trading just before 1.45 PM. Bids on the stock have thinned out with 21 bids to purchase shares with the highest being 45,000 shares at $1.02 while the lowest offers are at $1.24 for 201,765 shares with 148 offers currently up to a high of $6 and 69 with offers at $1.41 and below. Bids and offers could change markedly when trading resumes, but the quick fall back in price since Tuesday is not a good sign for investors trying to get out with a decent profit in the short term.
At the close of the market, the JSE Combined Market Index popped 542.32 points to 331,302.79, the All Jamaican Composite Index sank 1,772.18 points to 354,602.80, the JSE Main Index slipped 9.30 points to finish at 318,607.35. The Junior Market Index jumped 77.82 points to close trading at 3,712.88 and the JSE USD Market Index dipped by just 0.13 points to 220.01.
There were no preference shares with notable price changes.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide for investors to quickly assess the value of stocks based on this measure. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
Since the Junior Market opening, the index has slipped to 3,713 points with a gain of 78 points at 9.42 am.
At the close of trading, the JSE Combined Market Index rose 189.22 points to close at 330,760.47, the All Jamaican Composite Index skidded 975.19 points to wrap up trading at 356,374.98, the JSE Main Index popped 526.71 points to end the day at 318,616.65. The Junior Market Index dropped 44.47 points to 3,635.06, with FESCO dropping in the morning session to a 52 weeks’ low of $2.50, with an average price of $2.90 and would have had a major pull on the index. The JSE USD Market Index fell 2.98 points to lock up trading at 220.14.
In Junior Market trading, Omni Industries led trading with 3.90 million shares followed by Future Energy with 1.33 million units, then Dolla Financial with 1.15 million shares and Fosrich with 1.04 million units.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide for investors to quickly assess the value of stocks based on this measure. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
Half of the total issue or 250 million shares are new with an equal number to be sold by existing shareholders, bringing the total issued shares to 2.5 billion units and the shareholders’ equity capital to over $900 million.
